Final Switch
by VolcanicPizza
Summary: Frisk has reset one million times. But on the 1,000,001st reset, something has changed. All of the familiar faces that Frisk knew have been drastically changed, and so has this world. Nothing will ever be the same. (Original AU, male Frisk and female First Child)
1. Ruins: Part One

**A/N: This is the first (second, if you count the "Beyond Forgiveness" arc, but I'm not sure that it counts) completely original AU I've made, so keep that in mind while you're reading.**

 **This AU contains a male Frisk and female First Child.**

One million times.

One million resets.

One million alternate universes pursued for practically no reason.

Frisk knew he'd probably gone crazy a few times, losing and regaining and losing his sanity again and again as the morass of parallel worlds flowed past him.

None of them had been the same. Each time he had killed at least one person, except for the last thousand or so, yet none of them had gone to the extent of slaughtering the entire Underground.

Now, he would undergo reset number one million and one.

 _And I'll probably lose my sanity again._ he thought dazedly.

He sensed her in the back of his head. Angry at him.

She had been angry at him for all of the resets except the last thousand, and even then she was angry at him for resetting again and again and pulling everyone back underground.

But she couldn't stop him... could she?

* * *

TRUE RESET

* * *

The same patch of flowers. Frisk could feel them beneath his body. Yet... something seemed different.

Was it how brittle his body felt? Or was it the flowers?

Pushing himself upright, he winced as pain echoed through him. _Odd... This has never hurt before..._

Nevertheless, he forged onward.

And then he flinched back in surprise. So did she.

"Howdy!"

There was something wrong.

"I'm Flowey!"

Something very wrong.

"Flowey the Flower!"

And it was in the form of the white flower in front of him.

"I'm your new best friend!"

Flowey grinned cheekily. "That fall down must've really messed you up! I bet you're so confused! Here, buddy, let me teach you how things work in this world!"

Frisk's soul suddenly pulsed in his chest, glowing a vibrant red.

But a single hairline fracture had traced itself down its center.

 _What? My soul's never been like that!_

"Wow, your soul's pretty beat up, pal." An unnaturally wide grin spread across the flower's face. "How about I help you out with that?"

A little green pellet rose from the ground next to the flower.

"Now this here is called a friendliness pellet." Flowey smiled happily. "Run into this! It should patch up your soul and get it back to full health!"

Knowing all too well what came next from so many resets, Frisk dodged it.

"What's wrong, pal?" Flowey tilted his head. "Lemme explain something: This will help to heal your soul. It won't hurt it or anything. Please just trust me."

A single green bullet flew past him. He didn't even need to dodge it.

Flowey's face crumpled. "Why? Why won't you trust me? C'mon... I'm trying to help you out here..."

His face hardened. "Well, then, if you won't take your medicine, I'll just have to make you!"

A ring of pellets lifted from the ground and surrounded Frisk. Flinching, he braced for the impact-

But instead of hurting him, they dissolved with a warm feeling on his skin.

 _What?_

The fracture in his soul closed up, and a refreshing sense of revitalization stole over him.

"There, that wasn't so bad, now, was it?" asked the white flower. "And now you're all healed up."

Footsteps sounded behind them, and Flowey turned his head behind to watch, then back towards Frisk. "Well, you'll probably be in safe hands with her. See you around, friend!" He vanished into the ground.

"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?"

The monster tilted her head and reached out with a gloved hand. "Don't be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. Here, please come with me. It's not safe for children to dawdle around here."

Frisk followed her from the room. _Chara, do you have any idea what's going on?_

 _No. I don't._ She said no more.

The doorway opened up onto a light purple room with rotting leaves packed tightly into one corner. They were slightly scorched.

At the front of the room was a white marble door. Toriel walked confidently up to it and placed her hand against it. It slid into the wall with a grating sound.

"The Ruins are full of puzzles like these put here by the creators in order to keep the inhabitants safe." Toriel explained. "Although there aren't quite so many of us here nowadays, they still are quite useful as a staple of our entertainment and as a result are found just about everywhere. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." She walked through the door into the next room.

 _Why is everything different?_ Frisk was so confused.

 _My best idea,_ Chara butted in, _is that your resetting one million times must have been too much for the world to handle, and as a result everything changed drastically from what it was originally._

 _Well, that's not good._

 _Of course not._

 _But at least Flowey seemed to be somewhat nice._

In the next room, the hall took a sharp detour to the right. A long bridge spanned a bubbling stream of water that passed through one wall and into another. Some monsters were sitting around one end dipping nets into the water.

"Hello, Toriel!" someone called out.

"Greetings, my friends." Toriel replied. "What are you looking for this time?"

"We're panning for artifacts in general." replied a Loox. "Maybe we can get something good this time..." They focused on Frisk. "Who's this?"

"This child is lost." Toriel responded. "I am helping them through the Ruins."

Losing interest, the monsters refocused on the flowing water before them. Toriel and Frisk walked past them.

In the next room, the color scheme changed considerably. Everything went from light purple to a tranquil dark blue.

*The sight of these friendly colors fills you with determination.

SAVE

"Follow me." Toriel walked ahead, and Frisk followed her, wondering what else had changed with this reset.


	2. Ruins: Part Two

**A/N: Fun fact: Originally I was going to make this into a sprite comic, but I wasn't very good at making the pixels the right size, nor would my lousy computer let me download 8bit Operator font, so it ended up here.**

Frisk blinked twice. _I know we already knew this, but... the Ruins look very much different._

 _Yes, we both knew that._ Chara's voice was tired.

The long corridor loomed ahead, stretching for yards. At the end a single white column stood by itself. Beyond that Frisk could see nothing.

"Follow me, my child." Toriel walked ahead, her purple boots echoing off of the stone floor. Frisk followed her.

"Would you like me to tell you about the history of this place?" Toriel asked.

Frisk nodded hesitantly.

"Originally all monsters lived in the Ruins. Then it was known as Andria."

"That's a nice name." Frisk smiled slightly.

"Our king is terrible at many things, and that includes names." Toriel frowned. "It was only because of one of his advisers that it received a dignified name, and why other regions have names like Borealia, Magmafall, and Pantheria. Anyway, it eventually began feeling too overcrowded after the collapse of several side corridors and most monsters left. There are very few of us here nowadays, and the king doesn't even acknowledge our existence anymore."

 _Wait a second,_ Chara interjected. _Some of those names sound different. Pantheria? Borealia? I don't even know what region might be given a name like_ Pantheria _, of all names._

At the end of the hallway, something stirred behind the column, and a figure clad in dark-blue robes emerged. Like Toriel, he was wearing silvery metallic gloves and purple boots, but unlike her he was also wearing a light blue short cape that draped over his left arm. A black Delta Rune was emblazoned on the front of the robe, a white one on the cape. He was wearing a short sword in a hilt on his left leg.

"Ah, there you are!" Toriel called out. "I was wondering where you had got to."

 _What?_ Chara asked as she recognized him. _Why is he here? Why is he even like this? And if he's here, then who was..._

"The Ruins are pretty small, Mom, and I've had ten years to adapt to them. And I _am_ an adult by now, so I can look after my-" His eyes widened as he saw Frisk. "Oh, hello! Who are you?"

"My name is Frisk." Frisk replied, brushing away Chara's stunned silence.

"I didn't think you would be so quick to welcome them, Asriel." Toriel said in a surprised tone. "Especially after..."

"It's been ten years." Asriel rolled his eyes. "I think I'm over it. Besides, we don't want to bore the kid to death talking about stuff they won't even care about."

"I suppose you are right." Toriel sighed. "Let us continue."

Immediately in front of the pillar was a training dummy.

"As a human living in the Ruins," Toriel explained, "monsters may attack you, despite there not being very many. So, imagine that this dummy is a monster. How might you react?"

 _I thought she would advise me to stall for time until she came along..._ Frisk was somewhat confused.

 _Maybe she's considered that some humans are genocidal and wants to see which path you take._

 _Good point._ Frisk turned to the two monsters. "Can't I just run away?"

Toriel looked slightly constipated.

"That's acceptable." Asriel nodded.

Toriel turned to Asriel, and although their voices were hushed Frisk caught snatches of conversation: "...probably can leave them... trust you to make sure..."

Turning to Frisk, Toriel said, "There are some things I must pick up to prepare for your arrival, my child. Asriel will look after you until I come back."

Toriel walked away into the next room.

A semi-awkward silence filled the room.

It was Asriel who broke it. "So, how do you like it down here so far?" he asked.

Frisk decided to answer honestly. "It's pretty nice down here." he replied. "Architecture's pretty good, too."

"Well, the Royal Scientists had to do a lot of work making sure the roofs of the catacombs would stay up without being crushed by the mountain." Asriel gestured with a hand as he spoke.

"Who are the Royal Scientists, anyway?" Frisk asked.

"Last I checked, there's only one now, named Alphys, living around central Magmafall. But before Mom and I left New Andria to come back here, a guy named Aster and someone else, I can't remember his name, worked with her. Aster left for Borealia, though, and nobody knows what happened to the other guy. He just vanished, around the time that-" Asriel started. "Oh, I'm rambling again, aren't I? You're probably getting bored sitting here. How about I show you around the rest of the Ruins?"

Frisk nodded hesitantly.

"Okay, follow me." Asriel walked into the next room.

 _I wonder what else is different,_ Frisk thought as he followed the goat.

The next room was pretty small. The only noteworthy thing about it was that the dark blue bricks of the previous room had become purple again.

"Here, there's a puzzle up ahead you have to solve to move forward." Asriel explained. "The hallway's a bit tight ahead and curves a little, so... just warning you."

The hallway was indeed tight. Claustrophobia pressed in on Frisk. For a moment he lost sight of Asriel behind a bend, but the hall widened out quickly into the puzzle Asriel had mentioned.

"It's just a straight shot to the end," Asriel explained. "Mom changed the puzzle when we got here. I was pretty young then, and she didn't want me to get hurt. Just stay behind me."

Asriel stepped forward onto the first spike, and it retracted below his foot. He continued confidently ahead in a perfectly straight line, the spikes retracting before him. Hesitantly Frisk followed him.

"See, that wasn't hard at all!" Asriel's grin was infectious, and Frisk couldn't help but smile too. "You're a natural at this."

Frisk peered through the doorway into the next room. It was an elongated rectangle with some clusters of scorched leaves in it.

"There's two parts of the Ruins that each doorway leads into." Asriel explained. "The north leads to Mom's house, and the south is where most of the monsters are. Which way do you want to go?"

Frisk pointed towards the southern hallway, and Asriel chuckled slightly. "Okay, then."

The doorway curved to the east, but Frisk had barely taken a step forward before his soul flickered in his chest. "What?!"

Two Froggits hopped forward.

Tensing, Frisk prepared to dodge the array of attacks they would surely assault him with.

With a ringing sound of metal on metal, Asriel drew his short sword. "Leave this place!" he commanded. "The human is with me."

The Froggits obeyed, and hopped off into the shadows quietly ribbiting.

"See?" Asriel sheathed his sword. "You're in no danger as long as you're with me."

A piece of cheese sat on a table in the corner of the room. And beside it, the ubiquitous SAVE point.

 _Better save while you have a chance._ Chara noted.

Frisk nodded and walked over to the sparkling yellow star.

*The thought that some things, like this cheese, are multiversal constants fills you with determination.

SAVE

Turning away, Frisk began towards the next room, but Asriel held an arm in front of him. "Let me check first..." He peered around the corner. "Oh. Oh, no."

"What?" Frisk asked.

"Whatever you do, don't go into the next room." Asriel cautioned. "Trust me, you'll regret it."

"Why? I've got you to bail me out, don't I?" Frisk asked.

"No. I can't bail you out from her. Please, just trust me."

"If you insist," Frisk sighed, turning to walk back in the other direction. "Who is it that you're so afraid of, anyway?"

"Let's get back into the crossroads room, then I'll explain." sighed the goat.

Once they were back, Asriel began, "She's pretty much the only real criminal we have in the Underground, smuggling all kinds of things between the regions from her home base in Magmafall and ripping people off with exorbitant prices."

"Who is she?" Frisk asked.

"Her name is-" Asriel stopped as tiny footsteps echoed through the room. "Oh, shi..." He trailed off as he remembered that there was a child here. "She's here, isn't she?"

"Just as intuitive as always, Asriel. Ahuhuhuhuhu~" A voice echoed from the south wings.

"Frisk, get behind me." Asriel drew his sword. "Move slowly into the next room, and if you see a spider, _don't let it get out of your sight_."

Back to back with Asriel, Frisk moved slowly into the next room. Normally he would have taken this for a prank, but the raw fear in Asriel's eyes and the fact that everything in this world was unknown made him reconsider.

The sound of scuttling filled the air as they backed away.

Once they were in the next room, Asriel raced over to a white column growing from the floor and pressed something. With a clicking sound, spikes shot up to block off the doorway.

"We need to keep moving," Asriel sheathed his sword again. "She's scared of Mom, so she won't attack us in her house."

"Who is she?" Frisk demanded.

"Her name's Muffet." Asriel's hand twitched towards his sword. "This is just more proof that the Royal Guard's grown more lax about monster criminals under Ch-"

"Aren't you being rude, Azzy?" The voice sounded again. "Dearies, we have new guests~"

A flood of spiders rushed through the exit and blockaded it, preventing any escape.

And then she appeared in front of the spikes.

"Make sure to make them feel welcome~" Muffet let a sinister grin creep across her face.

 **A/N: And a cliffhanger. I am evil, I know.**

 **For those of you wondering, in this AU, Asriel is currently in his early twenties.**


	3. Ruins: Part Three

**A/N: So, in case y'all were wondering, the only exterior differences between Undertale Muffet and Final Switch Muffet is a purple suit and an assortment of various knives in sheaths on her legs.**

Frisk and Asriel's souls pulsed in their chests as the battle began.

*Muffet blocks the way!

"Why are you doing this, Muffet?" Asriel shouted.

"You've been interfering with my Andrian line of business, deary. I can't allow that to just go... And as for your human friend, why, I could make so much money off of their soul..." Muffet giggled.

 _Chara!_ Frisk thought, and the child didn't even need to ask what he meant.

*MUFFET ATK 40 DEF 20

*Beware of the spider that speaks in money.

Before Frisk had time to decide if that was supposed to be funny, Muffet spread her arms, and an array of purple bullets sped forth from her hands.

"Don't let any of the purple bullets hit you!" Asriel cautioned, deflecting one with his sword. "If any of them hit you, your soul will turn purple and she'll trap you in some weird web thing!"

Frisk managed to avoid the purple bullets, and clearly Asriel did as well, as his soul remained white.

Muffet's attack ceased, and Frisk caught his breath.

Something hardened in Asriel's eyes, and he held his sword out to Frisk. "Can you hold my sword for a moment?" he asked.

Hesitantly Frisk took the sword. It was surprisingly light and well-balanced, although he didn't expect anything different from a monster's weapon.

Spreading his fingers, Asriel released a jet of fire at Muffet. She shrieked and barely managed to duck under it. The flame singed the ceiling and burnt there momentarily before suddenly dying away.

Spinning around, Asriel shot another burst of flame at the spiders blocking the exit. They scattered, the flame dissipating in their wake.

"Follow me." Shooting more fire in Muffet's direction, Asriel backed towards the exit. Frisk followed him, holding the sword aloft.

Once they were out of the room, Asriel slammed a button on the wall and a door sealed Muffet off from them.

"We're pretty close to Mom's house, so I doubt she'll attack us any time soon," Asriel sighed. "Can I have my sword back now?"

Reluctantly Frisk gave the sword back to the goat monster, and he sheathed it. "Let's keep going."

They turned the corner into the next room. Frisk's breath caught in his chest as they realized that it looked almost exactly like before: the old dead tree, and Toriel's house behind it. Yet something was off, but before Frisk could decide what it was Toriel walked out through the door. "Ah! Asriel! I trust you and Frisk had an interesting walk?"

Asriel caught Frisk's eye and grinned. "You could say that." he replied.

Frisk looked at him incredulously.

* * *

"Welcome to your new home, my child." Toriel gave Frisk a calm and reassuring grin. "Do you smell that? I have baked a butterscotch-cinnamon pie to celebrate your arrival! I hope that you will enjoy it."

Asriel turned away from them and walked down the hallway.

"Asriel, where are you going?" Toriel called out.

"My room," Asriel responded.

"Well, can you direct Frisk to the spare bedroom while you're there?"

"Okay." Asriel gestured, and Frisk followed him.

At the second door down the hallway, Asriel opened the door. "That's the spare room. I hope you like the color red, because everything in there is some variation of it."

"Can I see your room?" Frisk asked.

Asriel looked as if he was about to refuse before shrugging and saying, "Sure, why not? Not like there's anything else better to do."

Walking down to the last door, Asriel opened it. "This is my room." he said.

The carpet was dark green, with lighter green stars on it. Asriel's bed sat in the corner of the room, next to a rather large chest of drawers.

"Actually, while you're in here, I may as well give you this." Asriel turned to his chest of drawers and opened a drawer. "That stick you're holding? Not the best weapon down here. I'm not advocating fighting or anything, but there are some situations where you won't have a choice but to fight. So, I might as well give you something a little more accurate."

Turning around from the drawer, Asriel held out a wooden knife. "Here. It can do some damage, but not enough to kill anybody or anything."

Frisk accepted the knife.

*You got the Wooden Knife.

"Thanks, Asriel." Frisk turned and walked out the door back to his room. He barely needed to lie down before he fell asleep.

* * *

Some time later, Frisk awoke.

Crawling out of bed, he saw something very familiar on the floor.

*You found the Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie.

Frisk added the slice of pie to his inventory and left the room.

Toriel was sitting by the fire, reading.

"Ah, hello, my child." Toriel said as he approached her. "I am glad to have you here. I have so many old books I want to share, and I am sure Asriel wouldn't mind having a new friend."

Footsteps sounded, and Frisk turned around to see Asriel approaching. "Is there any pie left?" he asked.

"There should be some in the kitchen." Toriel replied.

"Good. I'm hungry." Asriel walked past Frisk and into the kitchen. The sound of loud eating could shortly be heard.

"Oh, did you want something?" Toriel turned back to Frisk.

"When can I go home?" Frisk asked, knowing full well that it was the only way he could leave.

"What?" Toriel frowned. "But this is your home now. There... well, it's not a nice place beyond here. We can protect you in the Ruins, but outside of them..." Toriel sighed.

Asriel walked back out from the kitchen, wiping his face with his sleeve. "If the kid wants to leave, then just let them."

"But they could be hurt, or..."

"They won't." Asriel closed his eyes. "I'll make sure of it."

"But how-"

"They won't die." Asriel scratched at his horns. "Just trust me on this one."

"Very well." Toriel sighed. "Asriel, can you show them to the exit?"

"Sure. Follow me, kid." Asriel left the room, and Frisk followed.

"Right down the stairs here."

Frisk hesitantly followed him. _Surely he's not going to make it this easy? Surely he's going to fight me to keep me from leaving?_

At the end of the hallway, the doorway with the Delta Rune on it stood resolute.

"Go through there, and you'll be into Borealia." Asriel pointed at the door. "You're on your own from here... sorry."

Asriel ruffled Frisk's hair affectionately. "See you later, Frisk."

Then he turned around and walked back down the hallway, and was lost from sight.

Taking a deep breath, Frisk walked through the doorway.

Flowey was sitting there.

"Hello, friend!" Flowey grinned cheekily. "You're pretty determined to get ahead, aren't you? Well, I know the feeling, buddy. But listen." Flowey adopted a more subdued expression. "Isn't it sometimes better to just take what's given to you than trying to get something better? You could've had a happy life there..."

The flower's voice trailed off. "Well, I'm not one to judge. It's your life, not mine. I'll see you later, friend!"

Flowey dipped back into the ground, and Frisk walked ahead confidently to the door.

Everything grew bright.

 **FINAL SWITCH**

 **by VolcanicPizza**

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed poorly written. I'll try to make up for it by posting the first chapter of the Borealia arc along with this.**


	4. Borealia: Part One

**A/N: And here is the promised extra chapter to kick off the Borealia arc.**

Where before the temperature had dipped noticeably on entering Snowdin (or Borealia, as it seemed to be called now), the temperature didn't even vary from the Ruins to Borealia. Frisk, who had been bracing for an icy breeze, was surprised by this.

Come to think of it, was that even snow on the ground? It hadn't been crunching underfoot like snow, for sure. Frisk bent over to check.

*On closer inspection, the "snow" is actually light blue moss.

*That explains why it wasn't crunching underfoot.

Frisk turned to part the leaves in the bush to see if the camera was still there, but if there was one there it was very well concealed.

*Seems like an ordinary bush...

Frisk marched ahead. _If I'm right, whoever's replaced Sans in this screwed-up reality is going to come up behind me and... do something._

 _What if somebody like Undyne replaced Sans? Asriel did say that someone else was in charge of the Royal Guard, although he didn't get a chance to finish their name._

 _We'll just have to hope that she acquired his character traits as well, then._

Frisk continued ahead. _I can't hear anybody... Maybe there isn't anybody following me?_

He stopped at the incompetently-constructed barrier as he heard moss squishing underfoot behind him.

And an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Hey, kid. Don't you know how to greet the prank master of the Underground? Turn around and give me a high five."

Hesitantly Frisk turned around to the ominous figure and raised his hand. The figure raised their own...

And then bony fingers grabbed Frisk's hand and electricity jolted through that hand.

"Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Raucous laughter sounded, and Frisk looked up at the person.

He was wearing jeans and a black jacket. Frisk had never seen him before.

"I tell you that I'm the prank master of the Underground and ask for a high five, and you turn around and go for it without suspecting anything! That's priceless!" The monster overcame his laughter. "Anyways, I'm Aster. Aster the skeleton. I'm off work now, so I was going to come down here to relax, but then you appeared. You're a human, right?"

Frisk nodded hesitantly. _Chara, do you know who this guy is?_

 _No... unless..._

"That's actually pretty cool." Aster waved a hand in the air. "Anyways, I do have about sixty separate jobs right now... courier, occasional waiter at Napstablook's, and sometimes a newscaster, to name a few... but none of them involve capturing humans. So, contractually, I don't have to try to catch you."

Frisk let out a sigh of relief.

"But my older brother, Sans, is a lieutenant in the Royal Guard. He's third in command of the entire freaking Royal Guard!" Aster shrugged. "He doesn't actually care about capturing humans either, but he has to at least make SOME effort to capture you or he'll get booted from his spot. And since his job's worth quite a bit of GOLD and there are many others waiting to take his spot... well, you can see why Sans would be reluctant to lose his spot."

Aster peered around Frisk. "Actually, I think that might be him up ahead. Follow me."

Frisk followed the skeleton hesitantly.

"Alright, now get behind that lamp there." Aster pointed ahead. "I'll distract Sans with meaningless banter and hopefully he won't notice you."

Shortly, Sans came racing up. The only difference seemed to be that his hoodie was dark blue with drawstrings and he was wearing gray fingerless gloves.

"Hey, Sans." Aster waved.

"sup, bro?" Sans waved back. For some reason, this was incredibly funny, and they both started laughing.

"No, seriously, Sans, did anything happen while you were coming over?"

"that's lieutenant sans to you, aster, or i'll whip you with my hoodie drawstrings."

"Oh, no!" yelped Aster in mock horror, covering his face. "Not the dreaded drawstrings!"

"heh." Sans turned to the lamp abruptly. "ya know, aster, i'm getting the feeling that something's up with this lamp."

"What're you talking about?" Aster asked. "It's just the same lamp that's always been there."

"i know that, but it looks different..." Sans suddenly grinned. "almost like a human's hiding behind it."

Frisk gulped.

"yeah, you can come out, kid. ya know, it's not the greatest hiding spot there."

Hesitantly Frisk peered around the corner of the lamp, and when he was sure that Sans didn't have anything aimed at him, stepped out fully.

"like i'm sure aster already told you," Sans waved a nonchalant hand in the air, "i'm not really into capturing humans or anything like that. but i do want to keep my position in the guard. so... just watch your back is all i'm saying, kiddo."

Turning around, Sans trotted off down the path.

For some reason, Aster was grinning. "Just as always."

"What do you mean, just as always?"

"Eh, let's just say that we've been through this same thing before." Aster dug a hand in his pocket before bringing out a bottle of lemonade. Tilting it back, he took a long swig before screwing the cap back on and returning it to his pocket. "And if memory serves me correctly, Sans will pursue you, make a few weak attempts at skewering you with bones- and trust me, you have to be truly incompetent to be hit by them, and even then it's hard- and after that just stalk you and block the entrance to Borealia Town. So you're not in any danger, kid." Aster winked. "See you up ahead." the skeleton added before following his brother.

Up just ahead, another shining gold star twirled, twisting away the time of this world. Frisk stepped confidently up to it.

*The cool air flows through the vicinity, filling you with determination.

SAVE


	5. Borealia: Part Two

**A/N: Gaah, has it really been a month since I last updated? I gotta discontinue/HIATUS some fics if I ever want to get anything done.**

Stepping away from the SAVE point, Frisk looked up ahead through the dense trees to see a lopsided cardboard box lying on its side. Turning his head and squinting, the human tried to make out what it said.

*There's some narration on this old cardboard box.

*It reads:

*ATTENTION, HUMANS!

*THIS IS THE SENTRY STATION FOR THE FUTURE ROYAL GUARD, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!

*DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PASS THIS AREA OR YOU WILL BE CAPTURED!

*The writing is very old and faded.

*A few small red stains, shaped like fingerprints, are near the bottom.

 _Why's there something written by Papyrus on this old box?_ Frisk frowned. _He's not even here..._

 _But his brothers are._ Chara replied. _Wherever he is, he probably made this before he left... and it's obviously been quite some time since then._

 _Let's just get going._ Straightening himself, Frisk continued up ahead.

The mossy path continued ahead...

There was a sentry station there.

Cautiously Frisk crept towards it. _In the previous timelines, this was Doggo's station, wasn't it?_

 _True,_ Chara replied, _but from what I can tell it's deserted._

 _Wait, what?_ Growing bold, Frisk hoisted himself onto the shelf on the edge and peered inside. The ghost child had been right.

*The floor is littered with old candy wrappers and bottles.

*There's a note among the chaotic morass:

*heya.

*whoever you are, congratulations. you've found the secret wrapper dump of sans.

*...don't tell aster about this, please.

*Or you're gonna have a bad time.

Frisk couldn't help grinning as he let himself slide back to the mossy ground and continued up the path ahead.

Two skeletons were standing at the very end.

"so, the human arrives at last." Sans tried not to yawn and did a very bad job at doing so. "welp, here's your challenge." He gestured upwards towards the sheer cliff behind them. "get up that cliff in under five minutes or..."

Frowning, Sans turned to Aster. "(aster, how old would you say the kid is?)"

"(Why?)" Aster whispered back.

"(well, if they're really little i don't want to scare them with an outlandish threat.)"

"(Makes sense.)" Aster replied. "(I'd say the kid's about ten or twelve.)"

"(right, they can handle this, then.)" Sans turned back to Frisk. "or..." He held his hand out, and a bone appeared in it. "i'll shiv you with this bone. ya better get climbing, kiddo."

 _Is he serious?_ Frisk asked.

 _I wouldn't test him,_ Chara replied, _so you better climb._

The fallen child pushed through the thicket at the base of the cliff and frowned, looking upwards.

About five feet up, there was a sign.

*The sign looks to be relatively new.

*It states:

*welp, you're reading this sign.

*and wasting your time.

*yup.

*this sign is wasting your time.

*...

*...

*...

*...

*...

*oh, yeah, if you look behind this sign, you'll find a switch to shoot a rope ladder down from the top.

*there's your reward for patiently reading the entire sign.

*see? signs are useful.

*so's ketchup...

*ah, glorious ketchup...

*The rest of the sign is covered in ramblings about the joys of ketchup.

 _Strangely,_ Frisk thought as he pried the sign off the cliff face and pulled down on the rusted metallic switch behind it, _this doesn't seem out of character for Sans at all._

 _I wouldn't object to that statement,_ Chara conceded. _Mainly because of the last part._

From the top of the cliff, a rope ladder descended, and Frisk latched onto it and began climbing. _Although the layout of Snowdin... er, Borealia... seems very different._

 _Not like it wasn't the same way in the Ruins._ Frisk felt rather than saw her shrug. _There's probably a logical explanation for this._

 _Yeah, but you think they'll tell us? What we should do is go to the library once we get into town._

 _Probably not..._

By this point Frisk had reached the top, and sat there on the edge trying to get his breath back.

"y'all might wanna move away from the edge." Sans cautioned from behind Frisk. "ya gotta _femur_ careful or you're gonna have a bad time."

 _Why am I not surprised that they teleported up here?_ Frisk collapsed on his back.

"Sans." Aster glared at his brother. "You know, they should put up a monument in Snowdin."

"to what?" Sans looked mildly surprised.

"TO MY PATIENCE FOR NOT COMMITTING FRATRICIDE FROM ALL OF YOUR HORRIBLE PUNS!" the skeleton exploded.

"uh, ya know, you say just about as many puns as i do on a daily basis."

"THERE'S A DIFFERENCE!"

"if there is, i don't see one."

Aster sighed. "You are almost as obnoxious as those strange Temmie creatures."

"heh. they're actually kinda cute. plus they got a pretty catchy jingle for their tem flakes."

"If you sing it, I swear to God I will stab you in your sleep."

Frisk managed to pull himself to his feet this time. "Back down the path..." he said, "there was an old cardboard box with some stuff written on it by a guy called 'Papyrus.' Who was he?"

 _Good idea, partner. Best to take it slow and not give any sign that you know anything._

Sans's eyelights clicked off, and Aster's expression darkened.

"Did... I...?" Frisk started hesitantly.

Sans waved a hand. "i'd rather not talk about that, kid. sorry, family business."

 _Understandable._

The constant light from some distant source that lit the Underground shone down onto the skeleton brothers...

Frisk froze.

As they shifted awkwardly, it glinted off their eye sockets.

More accurately, something transparent in their eye sockets...

Frisk's eyes widened.

"something up, kiddo?" Sans asked.

Hesitantly Frisk pointed at his eye sockets. "You've got something in your eye sockets..."

"hmm? you mean this?" Sans tapped a finger against the transparent surface. "this is my glasses. sort of."

Frisk raised a questioning eyebrow.

"i can see you want the whole story." Sans sighed. "well, ordinary glasses didn't exactly work for us, seeing as we don't have noses to support them, and contact lenses wouldn't work either, for, uh, obvious reasons. so we just got the glass directly installed into our sockets, and whenever they need cleaning we just twist them out with these special little slots."

"Wouldn't that hurt?" Frisk asked skeptically.

Aster shrugged. "Not as much as you'd think. We're skeletons, remember?"

Frisk decided to change the subject. "So, do you have any more puzzles up here, or what?"

"oh, yeah. puzzles." Sans nodded. "let's get over to the other side of the clearing."

For the first time, Frisk registered the size of the clearing they were standing in. It was easily sixty feet across and ninety feet lengthwise, filled with little pockmarks in the moss.

Sans snapped his fingers, and he and his brother teleported over to the other side of the field. "now," Sans shouted, "you gotta get to the other side of the clearing."

 _Watch out,_ Chara cautioned. _They've probably got something planned._

 _Yeah, almost definitely._ Frisk took a cautious step forward, and when nothing happened, another.

He stopped.

"what's the matter?" Sans asked.

"Not like we've got any potentially life-threatening traps hidden inside all those little holes." Aster added.

Frisk took another step, and then another.

The first of the holes sat there innocuously.

Cautiously Frisk walked around it, and did the same for the next ahead of it.

 _Wait..._ Chara frowned.

Frisk walked across the entire field without any traps triggering.

 _I don't know if you're just lucky or if there weren't actually any traps, but if I had to guess I'd say it's the latter._ pointed out Frisk's companion.

 _Not like that's unusual._ Frisk strode confidently towards the two skeletons. Between them lay a row of small holes about the size of a computer key.

 _Just walk over it._ Chara advised.

Frisk placed a foot in front of the holes...

...and from each hole, a long stick erupted, carrying a sock on its end. Frisk flinched and let out a small, involuntary scream.

The skeletons collapsed into laughter.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Aster chortled, almost falling over on his side.

"yeah, my dirty socks must be really scary!" Sans laughed.

*So apparently this is Sans's dirty socks.

*Sc...scandalous...?

Sighing, Frisk pushed his way between the sticks and stood there patiently waiting for the skeletons to stop laughing. To their credit, he didn't have to wait long, and they pulled themselves together fairly quickly.

"welp, that was quite _humerus._ " Sans winked. "in payment for your little skit there, i'll teleport you ahead to the tunnel to borealia town. sound like a deal?"

"Uh... sure?" Frisk replied hesitantly.

"cool. grab onto my arm." Sans's eyelights sparked, and for just a moment they were both blazing bright red. The last thing Sans said before he snapped his fingers was, "uh, you might wanna close your eyes."

Frisk squeezed his eyes shut at the last second before his feet seemed to latch to the ground. Suddenly, his entire body was shunted backwards and the wind blurred everything around him into a howling morass until he felt like he had to scream-

And then the sensation abruptly stopped. Frisk opened his eyes to see an ominous-looking cave entrance before collapsing onto his side and retching.

"heh." Sans said. "i shoulda warned you that this kinda thing is sometimes disorienting your first time around. welp, see ya in borealia town."

And then Sans vanished, leaving the child to collect himself amid the blue moss.

 **A/N: Occasionally I'm going to break from the normal story flow to add in little extras, like some neutral ending phone calls and other tidbits. I think I'll do one of those next since I can confidently say that it will be spoiler-free.**


	6. Intermission: Calm Before the Storm

**A/N: Like I said last chapter this chapter'll break from the story flow to bring you one of the neutral phone call endings.**

 **To get this phone call, you must do a pacifistic neutral run up until the CORE, during which point you must kill all the monsters there. You must also kill Sans before this when he appears in the MTT Resort analogue. (How that's even possible, or why Sans is there and not Aster will be explained when that part comes.)**

 **I can confidently state that this part will not contain spoilers for the rest of Final Switch, but feel free to pick apart the phone call for theories or something.**

 **Aster is the only one talking during this phone call.**

Ring...

"Hello... are you there?"

"Ha... Of course you aren't."

"Why am I even bothering with this message...?"

"How should I know?"

"Well, a lot's happened since you left..."

"The king's dead, the souls are gone..."

"..."

"I know you didn't kill the king. I... saw that much."

"Yet..."

"..."

"You killed innocents."

"So many innocents dead because of YOU."

"..."

"What did they do to you?"

"..."

"And..."

"You killed my brother."

"You killed him when..."

"When there was no reason. No incentive."

"You just did it because you could, didn't you?"

"Just because you wanted to see what would happen."

"You really are a despicable person."

"Ha..."

"What am I going to do now?"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do."

"I'm going to go back to the lab. I'm... we're... going to take everything we've learned..."

"...And we're going to cross the barrier."

"We will track you down."

"We will find you..."

"And we will put you where you belong."

"You know, in hell."

"Pleasant dreams!"

Click...


	7. Borealia: Part Three

**A/N: Here's all the music motifs I can reveal without there being spoilers:**

 **Your Best Friend's replacement is called Well, Hello There! Unfortunately, the motif cannot be revealed for spoiler reasons.**

 **Fallen Down remains the same.**

 **Ruins is renamed Andria, but the motif cannot be revealed as doing so would spoil who takes Undyne's place.**

 **Home remains the same, although the lower-octave piano chords of It's Raining Somewhere Else play about halfway through, speed changed to sync with the music.**

 **The sans. replacement is called Aster... and is Gaster's Theme remixed to the style of sans. without the drums.**

 **The Nyeh Heh Heh! replacement is called lieutenant sans. and is sans. without the drums and some violins, as well as being about 1.5x the speed.**

 **The music for Moss Everywhere (Snowy) and Borealia Town (Snowdin Town) are based off Your Best Friend motifs.**

The tunnel entrance loomed dark and empty. No light came from the opening, and Frisk took a hesitant step forward.

 _Don't worry._ Chara said. _I doubt either of those comedians would have put up a trap in the tunnel- Sans is too lazy and Aster doesn't want to because he's not contractually obliged to._

 _Good point._ Frisk blundered ahead blindly into the darkness.

For a few moments, everything was black around him. Not a single shaft of light penetrated the gloom surrounding the two fallen children.

And then he emerged from the tunnel.

 _What'd I tell you?_ Frisk sensed triumph in Chara's voice.

 _You still don't get the right to gloat._

 _I can do whatever I want, thanks very much._

Frisk had learned many resets ago that swearing at Chara had no effort and pushed ahead through the thicket in front of him. The light brown branches, devoid of leaves, parted easily before him. For a moment, Frisk wondered where the leaves were, before deciding not to question it.

Turning a corner, he saw a rope bridge over a chasm looming ahead.

 _I have a feeling there's a trap involved here..._ Frisk hesitated.

 _Again, why would they do something like that?_

 _Good point. Again._

He could hear her laughing as he crossed the bridge.

* * *

Borealia Town, as the replacement for Snowdin Town appeared to be called based off of the sign at the entrance to the village, seemed just as bright and cheery as its original counterpart. Yet something seemed off.

 _Let's start at the very beginning._ Chara suggested. _A very good place to start._

Frisk got a feeling that she was making a reference, although he couldn't remember what to. Nevertheless, she did make a good point, and as such he entered the east half of the hotel building, which seemed the same, although it was missing the signs.

The rabbit shopkeeper was still there. "Hello, traveller. How may I help you?"

Frisk quickly analyzed her wares: she still had the cinnamon bunnies and bisicles, and he chose to purchase one of each.

"Thanks for your purchase," the shopkeeper said.

The items once belonging to the fallen human who came before, a tough glove and manly bandanna, had been replaced by two other objects: a toy sword made of some foamy material and a plastic knight's helmet. Shrugging, Frisk bought those as well. This left him with barely any GOLD, but he didn't really care at this point.

 _Might as well interrogate the shopkeeper about stuff like usual,_ Chara suggested.

Frisk nodded, turning back to face the shopkeeper. "What stuff is there to do around here?"

"Well," the shopkeeper replied, "Napstablook's has food, quite good food at that, and the library has information. If you're tired, you can take a nap at the inn next door. My sister runs it. If you're bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing. They're brothers, I think. There were three of them once," she noted, "They just showed up out of nowhere early on when the town was established. The short one claimed to have worked with the king, and the others said they were in the Royal Guard. One of them vanished during the Integrium incident, though... I think we all know what happened to him."

"Integrium incident?" Frisk asked.

The shopkeeper nodded knowingly. "Overprotective parents? Well, if they don't want you to know about it I won't tell you either. It's not exactly a children's bedtime story."

Frisk conceded and moved on. "Can you tell me about the history of the town?"

The shopkeeper lifted an eyebrow. "You're telling me you can't remember anything from your history lessons? When we first left Andria, we got to here. Since the climate was pretty nice and temperate, a good deal of us settled down here, and the settlement's been booming ever since. One of the biggest population centers in the Underground... and you don't remember any of that?" Shaking her head in disgust, the shopkeeper looked down at the counter. "What are they teaching you kids these days?"

 _It's probably best to leave now._

 _Good point._ "Well, I'll be going now. Goodbye!" Frisk walked out the door and into the mossy landscape.

A save point glittered there atop the moss against the wall. Frisk reached out for it.

*The pleasant tranquility of this town is quite nice... Yet, you know it can't last.

*The thought fills you with determination.

*SAVE

Frisk didn't bother going into the hotel- _if Sans'll be fighting me at all, like Aster said, the lazybones probably won't do much. I haven't killed anyone, after all_ \- and instead moved on.

On the outside, Napstablook's looked much the same as Grillby's had, asides from the obvious sign change. After a slight hesitation, he walked in.

The door closed behind him as he hesitantly ventured in. The interior was colored bright cyan, and a song he clearly recognized as being from one of Napstablook's mixtapes in the original timeline filled the air. A calm, yet melancholic air permeated the room.

Napstablook himself was drifting aimlessly in the back corner, behind the bar.

"oh... hello..." said the ghost as Frisk approached. "would you... like anything to eat?"

"Do you do takeout?" Frisk asked. _If things adhere to the "rule of analogues" as they have so far, Aster will take me here after I fight Sans, and I'm not sure what that'll be like. Best to not eat for now._

"well, yes..." Napstablook nodded contently, bobbing up and down. "what would you like? we have burgers, fries, sandwiches..."

"Can I have fries?" Frisk asked.

"sure..." Napstablook ducked under the counter, briefly vanishing before popping back up and setting a bag on the bar top. "here you go..."

"Okay, thanks!" Frisk grinned and set down the last of his gold on the countertop. This seemed to perk Napstablook up a little. "thank you... please come again..."

As Frisk left Napstablook's, he noticed the outline of the Librarby up ahead.

*This time, not only is the sign misspelled, but it's also backwards.

Frisk grinned. Chara was right. Somehow, the library's creators had put the sign on backwards and not noticed. He peered in through the window, but nothing seemed to be different, so he continued ahead.

The skeleton brothers' house loomed ahead. Frisk tried the door, but he didn't expect it to open. He wasn't disappointed. Passing the shed, he tried the door, again expecting nothing, and as such was surprised when it creaked open.

The inside was dark, dank, and practically impermeable. Frisk felt as if he was drowning in the blackness, and fumbled against the wall until his fingers caught on a light switch.

Harsh fluorescent lights snapped on along the bottom of the walls and ceiling, revealing a steely staircase leading down a seemingly infinite distance. Any mere mortal would have quailed at the prospect, but not Frisk.

He began the long, arduous descent. Into what, he knew not, but whatever was there, he'd make the best of it.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he had been walking, but eventually he reached the bottom. _Whichever one of the skeletons set this up,_ he thought, leaning against the wall and gasping for air, _the long staircase was an even better security measure than anything else._

The lights continued down into the room, on which was a single pedestal.

 _And in it floated a human soul._

The light blue soul, to be precise. Behind the pedestal lay a single coffin with a light blue heart painted on the stone surface. Atop the coffin lay the items it had carried: a hair ribbon and a toy knife.

*Pieces of crumpled-up paper litter the ground around the coffin.

*Will you inspect them?

Frisk nodded subconsciously, bending down to pick one of the pieces of paper up. Uncrumpling it and smoothing it against the wall, he squinted in the harsh light. Time and moisture had eaten away at the writing, and someone had crossed it out violently with an ink pen, tearing the paper in many places.

*It says:

*I'm sorry. I failed you. I failed the promise I made you. Everything was in vain. I tried to protect the kid, but a bunch of Royal Guards caught him while I was going back to the house to check on Papyrus.

*Nothing more can be made out.

Frisk picked up another paper to inspect, smoothing it out with a hand.

*It says:

*Please forgive me. I tried my best, but the kid died all the same. I...

*I'M SO SORRY.

*I CAN'T... I CAN'T

*WH✡︎ ✌︎💣︎ ✋︎ 💧︎O U💧︎ELE💧︎💧︎

*Wet marks dot the paper.

Frisk picked up yet another paper. This one was merely creased down the middle, and hadn't been crumpled, although the corners were scorched.

*I can't tell the truth about what happened to him.

*I can't walk up to that door and say that I let a kid die just because I didn't manage my time well.

*This was my promise... no, my obligation... and yet... I...

*...I just won't say a thing.

*I'll evade all the questions, like I've grown so good at doing.

*Eventually... He will be forgotten.

*And if Asgore's plan is delayed, so what?

*It doesn't matter in the end.

*...

*You decide to leave this depressing room to its own devices.

* * *

One long trek up the stairs later, Frisk was at the edge of Snowdin Town.

Fog clouded the exit as in the original timeline, although it was more gray-tinted and seemed nearly artificial.

 _Just like that comedian to want a dramatic-seeming entrance._ Frisk noted wryly, walking confidently forward. _But he'll be a pushover, I'm sure of it..._

And then he stopped.

A shadow was standing, ahead in the mists.

"Greetings-" Frisk started to call out, but stopped.

The figure there seemed... too tall for Sans. Almost like... he...

"Heh heh heh." A dry chuckle.

"Greetings to you, too, human." the shadow said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"Sans has been monitoring you much more closely than I have... and he says that you're innocent and guilt-free. He says you have no..." A sarcastic, caustic tone entered the skeleton's voice. "No EXP. No LV."

He laughed again. "Such childish terms, hanging over from a simpler time, when we had planned everything out perfectly. Then the Integrium incident happened, and our world was disrupted."'

"I can't let another human come so close to destroying the world. I can't take any chances... NOT WHEN IT COST ME SO MUCH LAST TIME."

"So... You know what we must do. If it's any condolence, I'll do my best to make this quick."

Frisk's soul flickered in his chest, and the fog cleared completely.

*Aster takes a stand!


	8. Borealia: Part Four

**A/N: I'd like to make a statement that will become relevant later on and hopefully help to confuse people about what role Papyrus gets shifted into: Frisk (and, by default, Chara) have been basically grabbed out of the original timeline and placed in this one. If Frisk had even existed in the timeline of Final Switch, Chara wouldn't have been the narrator. That dubious honor would have been reserved for someone else.**

 **In other news, I'm getting sick of writing all of Sans's dialogue in lowercase, and it doesn't exactly fit anymore for reasons I'll reveal soon. Therefore, he's speaking with ordinary capitalization from now on.**

With a slight flourish, Aster raised his hand up in the air and clenched it tight, as if he was squeezing something. Frisk's soul appeared in front of him and flickered to blue.

"You're blue now. That's my special attack." Aster said in a monotonous voice, as if he was reading from a script. "If you're an idiot and didn't figure it out already, that means you have to jump over my attacks. I'll give you a little while to get used to it. Nobody can say that I am not fair."

ACT- Aster- Check

*ASTER- ATK 10 DEF 66

*He seems to be holding back... but why?

*There's something about his expression...

Aster raised his hand, then smashed it down suddenly. Frisk felt as if he was being grabbed by a metal claw and dashed against the ground, and he cried out in pain and spit blood onto the moss.

Aster's eyesockets widened, and he seemed to falter for a moment. Then hard resolve passed over him and his eye flared red for a moment. "I'll try to make this quick," he said, and then his hand was whipping up and down and Frisk bounced off the cavern's ceiling and floor, back and forth.

Finally, Aster opened his hand, and Frisk was released to drop against the mossy ground. He gasped for air harshly.

*Aster isn't calm.

*Something seems to be troubling him.

ACT- Aster- Question

"Why are you doing this, Aster?" Frisk called out desperately.

Aster's eyelights clicked off. "Don't you understand? However innocent you might look now, you could go on and kill everyone. You could destroy the world we worked so hard to make. I..." The skeleton faltered, and reached up a hand for his eyesocket.

 _Am I getting through to him?_

Chara shrugged. _Personally, I'd say you are, but... I'm probably mistaken. I never was all that much of a people person, for obvious reasons._

And then Aster's eyelights flickered out again. "Let me answer your question with another one, human." He laughed. "Have you heard of the Integrium incident yet?"

"I... I heard of it, but I still don't know what it was. Something happened, and..." Frisk decided to take a risk. "Your brother died in it, didn't he?"

Aster let his bony eyelids fall over his sockets. "You're quite the investigative one, aren't you? Good at making inferences, too. If you survive my next attack, I'll tell you the abridged version. It's pretty depressing, so now's a good time to die if you're having second thoughts."

Aster's eyesockets opened, one dark and the other blazing red. "You've got five seconds to prepare your rear, kid."

Frisk's eyes widened as shapes emerged from the haze. _Is... Are those...?_

 _I'd say those are his signature weapons, yes._ Chara responded grimly.

"Do you like them?" Aster grinned. "I made 'em myself, with a little help from my brothers. They're called 'Gaster Blasters,' and unless you're insanely good at dodging... which you couldn't be, unless you've been here before... you're gonna die a lot now."

The draconic skull-like weapons yawned wide... and then their deadly beams fired.

Frisk's soul flickered back to red, and then they fired. He screamed as he tried to duck under and jump over them, but despite his best efforts his clothing was singed and smoking by the time the attack finished.

"Not dead, I see." Aster observed blandly. "I'll have to step up my game, won't I?"

*Aster shifts from foot to foot.

ACT- Aster- Flirt

 _Are you kidding me?_ Chara groaned.

 _What? If it makes him stop..._

 _Can you please stop flirting with everything?_

 _No._

"What the hell?" Aster glared at Frisk. He raised his voice's pitch. "Is this a joke? Are you having a chuckle? Ha, ha, very funny. You can't distract me from the battle!"

 _Well, that was useless._

 _Just as I expected._

The Gaster blasters floated back and forth as Aster shrugged. "You wanted to hear the story? Here you are." He clicked his fingers, and bones erupted from the ground behind him. "I'm going to break it up between fighting to make it more palatable and so you don't get bored, though."

Aster closed his eyes. "Eleven years ago, a human fell into the Underground. She was around your age, and was very bright, chipper, and friendly." He opened his empty, hollow eyesockets. "At least, that's the facade she put up."

Frisk's soul flickered back to blue, and an array of bones sped at him. They were closely spaced, and he had to jump very quickly and stay low to the ground in order to make it over all of them. It wasn't easy, but he managed to make it over them without taking any damage.

Then the Gaster blasters came down in a set of parallel lines and fired. Frisk flattened himself vertically, and the beams narrowly missed him.

Rotating upward, the blasters vanished into the fog.

*Aster seems to be planning something.

ACT- Aster- Story

*You ask Aster to continue his story.

"Eager, ain't you?" Aster's expression darkened. " _Just like her._ "

"Sans had been on the monitoring shift on the day that she fell. As befitting our positions, we monitored her journey. She didn't kill anything, not where we could see. Andria was still mostly uninhabited back then, a far cry from its capital days before I aided the terraforming effort, and there wasn't really anything to kill there. She came out of the doors prancing around and fooling us all. We had no idea what her true intentions were."

What came next would have better fit a bullet hell game. The area was littered with bones as Aster formed them and sent them forth, and he could barely dodge them. When the attack finally ceased, Frisk was down to 2/20 HP.

 _Now I'm regretting not sleeping at the inn._ Frisk sighed.

 _Shoulda planned ahead, shouldn't you?_ Chara taunted.

ITEM- Takeout Fries

*You eat the Takeout Fries.

*There's a strange crawling sensation in your veins...

*But asides from that, they're pretty good.

*Your HP was maxed out!

"Considering what had happened since Chara fell down," Aster continued, "people were willing to trust her, and she settled into life in Borealia Town very nicely. I was stupid enough to let her stay in our house while she was trying to figure out a permanent living space. If I'd known then what I know now..." His eyelights went out. "I'd have killed her on sight."

Aster's eye blazed red as he flung his arm up, smashing Frisk into the ceiling, and he just barely managed to jump over a laser blast. He fell back to the floor, his soul turning red again, and then another wave of unevenly spaced bones raged forth.

*There's something about the air...

*Is it just you, or does it smell like ozone?

ACT- Aster- Story

*You ask Aster to continue the story.

"One night..." Aster shrugged. "One night, that one night, everything changed. She went missing. I panicked and scanned the area while Sans went to the cameras. We left Papyrus behind, and... Well, I buggered everything up, to put it mildly."

Aster's gaze drifted off to the side as Gaster blasters dropped down, firing wantonly before retracting into the void.

ACT- Aster- Question

*You ask Aster what he's talking about.

"What I did was call out the local unit of the Royal Guard to search while I went into Parthenia to get the other Royal Scientists, leaving Papyrus behind." Aster rubbed his forehead. "She slaughtered all of the guards I sent to find her and then went into Borealia Town proper. Sans had been watching and activated the alarm system, and decided to go out and hold her off long enough for everyone else to get out before he fled, too, leaving Papyrus behind in the house."

Aster didn't bother to attack this time, but his gaze drifted away again.

*A feeling of dread hangs over you.

*You think you know what happens next, but you have to know for sure.

ACT- Aster- Question

*You ask Aster what happened.

Aster laughed harshly. "What do you think happened? Papyrus told me what happened, and I rushed back as fast as I could. We hadn't worked out the whole teleportation thing yet, so I had to run all the way there, and by the time I got back Papyrus was missing."

Again, Aster didn't attack, letting his arms fall to his side.

*...

ACT- Aster- Question

*You ask what happened then.

"Papyrus had been watching everything." Aster sighed. "Sans was a lot lazier back then, but he still was no pushover. Still... she was strong, and she managed to beat him down. She grabbed his knife off of him, and was about to kill him. Then..."

Aster's voice faltered, but he plunged on. "Papyrus jumped in front of Sans and took the blow for him. I got there just in time to see it happen..." His voice became anguished. "Do you have any idea what it's like to see your brother die in front of you? To see his body fall, limp, from a fatal blow that you could have stopped? Oh, we managed to kill her, but the cost was too high."

Frisk felt uneasy, and glanced around.

Aster laughed again. "There's no need to tell you all the misfortune resulting from the first part of the Integrium incident..." In a terrible voice, he shouted, "BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"

Plunging a hand into his hoodie, Aster drew forth a sword and held it out. "En garde!"

*This... could prove to be a tad bit troublesome...

ACT- Aster- Question

*Again, you ask Aster why he's doing this.

"You still don't get it?" Aster snarled. "This is preemptive. You can't murder everyone I care about if you're dead! We built this world from scratch to escape your kind! And now? Now, we have a deposed king and a world in chaos! You're just adding to the anarchy and confusion! Oh, I played nice to lull you into a false sense of security. I've planned all along to kill you, but I just couldn't do it while Sans was around. He..." Aster sighed. "Well, he has other plans. But why bother telling you about those when you're going to die?"

Aster swept the sword down, and Frisk just barely managed to dodge it. The blade bit deep into the moss, and with a growl Aster whipped it up, particles of vegetation and soil falling from the tip. "Stop dodging and make this easy for me!"

And then a dizzying series of blade strikes swept forwards, and Frisk barely dodged them. The blade swept through his clothing and his hair and left several deep gashes on his face, but he was still alive.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" Aster's expression contorted. "Fine then! I won't even give you the opportunity to dodge!" He raised his hand, and the largest Gaster blaster Frisk had ever seen let its deadly jaws gape.

A white pulse shot forth.

 _There's no dodging this one!_

Frisk squeezed his eyes shut and awaited cold death.

But nothing happened.

Yet... there was the smell of burning anyway?

Frisk opened his eyes.

Sans stood in front of him, arms spread wide, a slight smile on his face. Smoke hissed from the singed remains of silver armor on his chest.

"Sans?" Having no eyebrows to raise, Aster's eyelights diluted instead. "What are you doing?"

"You're lucky I grabbed this armor before coming here." With a single fluid gesture, Sans unhooked the pieces of metal and let them fall gently atop the moss. "I woulda killed you if you did that to my hoodie."

"Move aside and let me finish this." Aster ordered.

"No." Sans's eyesockets narrowed. "Fact is, bro, you've been watching the kid just as close as I have. He hasn't hurt a single monster. Yes, I assumed your gender." he added, offhand, to Frisk. "Get triggered, mate."

 _What._

 _Hey, if Smiley Trashbag saved us, I'm not going to question what he says to us._

 _Well, your choice is yours to make, partner... I guess..._

"We can't assume that he'll be good just because of precedent!" Aster shouted. "We made the same mistake with Alicia, and look where it got us! She could have destroyed this entire world we made together!"

Sans closed his eyesockets. "You can't judge the kid off what his predecessors did. And, fact is... I don't think he's faking it. Again, you've been observing him as closely as I have."

"But-" Aster started, raising a hand, and then stopped. He seemed to remember something and let his hand fall.

Eyesockets narrowed, Sans raised his hand and flashed a quick set of symbols at Aster as he spoke. " _Cruxeit duodrop refla sonitro brefag soleit morteschneit druoneit. Jeru reflacrux nitromorte solrefla crux dropsajeru sarefladrop schneifla solrux samortes recrux soldafrop duoschneit olss_." he said.

Aster sighed and flashed his own array of signals at Sans. " _Refla circecruxduo schneifla dropsa morterinmortes ocrux drotes refla circecrux?_ "

" _Jerup reflol morefla circecruxtu relace crussop schneim._ " Sans replied. " _Morrop mortesn neitut circes schla pessifla mors'Ju. Retes solla dropessimortes rececrux morteido cirol, mortestuo soneit refolop rehenti drecru relolim_."

Aster placed a hand on his forehead. "Oh, hell, Sans. You know that I never got the hang of Mandibus in the first place. Are you trying to torture me or something?"

"No." Sans replied, straightfaced. "But there are some things which must be kept secret. Now," he continued, turning to Frisk, "the kid looks about ready to collapse. Regardless of how you feel about him, I trust the kiddo, and my judgement should be enough for you."

Anguish covered Aster's face. "This is just how it started last time!"

"I'm well aware." Sans replied. " _I'm well aware._ But this time, we know what to expect."

"..." Aster let out a long exhalation. "I'm going to the control module, Maybe trolling some of those annoying kids in Magmafall will cheer me up." Turning on his heel, he stalked away.

"If you pass by Blook's, make sure to grab me a burger!" Sans called after him.

" _Kapf!_ " replied Aster, holding his hand up with the first two fingers extended.

Sans laughed and made the same gesture at his brother's departing back. "Same to you!" he shouted, before turning to Frisk.

"Uh... Thanks for saving me there, Sans." Frisk said hesitantly.

"Heh. It's no problem, kid." Sans's grin only grew wider. "You wanna come with me to my house?"

Frisk nodded, his happiness subdued. _Maybe... I can figure out the rest of what happened._

The realization that Papyrus was dead wasn't something new to him: he'd figured it was the most likely outcome for some time now. But to have it confirmed, that someone who had been his friend in another timeline was _dead;_ that was enough to nearly send him to tears.

And yet, that same desire that had kept him resetting for so long was burning in him now: a desire to shove his emotions aside and see what happened.

And he did.

Standing, he followed Sans back towards his house.


	9. Borealia: Part Five

**A/N: I realize I'm updating less and less frequently, but I swear this isn't going to turn into a Dead Fic (see TvTropes.) I have the entire story planned out, the trouble is finding the time to sit down and write.**

 **Anyway, I hope this makes up for the long wait.**

Frisk paused at the door to the skeletons' house, unsure of whether he should be entering.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Sans grinned. "The door's unlocked."

Closing his eyes, Frisk pushed the door open and stepped inside. Sans followed him in and immediately walked to the refrigerator, opening it and pulling out an opaque bottle. _Most likely ketchup._

When he opened them, he was reassured with the same faint aroma of ketchup that had permeated the house in the original timeline, although the charred odor that had once emanated from the kitchen had been replaced by an ozone-like smell in Papyrus's absence. The rooms, at least, seemed to be mostly the same, although with a few noticeable differences, such as more doors on the upper floor and what seemed to be a closet off to the side of the kitchen.

Patting the soft gray couch, Frisk idly wondered why mundane things like couch color had been changed, and yet the overall layout of the house seemed so similar. There were probably many explanations for this, but it wasn't the only thing Frisk thought felt off about the house. To put it in terms it would be easier for him to understand, if the house was a human its impersonation of Sans and Papyrus's house in the original timeline was like an overly-researched cosplay with too much scientific detail put into it, letting it reach the point where its realism seemed unrealistic.

 _A bit of a lengthy explanation,_ Chara wryly noted, _but accurate nonetheless._

The television was off, and Frisk cautiously walked over and turned it on. It flared to life, flickering static covering the screen... and then everything shifted.

The screen was playing a view on a security camera, one that was clearly quite old judging by the cracks across the screen and light dust over the lens. It was...

A chill ran down Frisk's spine.

 _It was focused on the flower patch in the Ruins he had fallen onto._

Almost afraid of what he might see next, Frisk picked up the remote from where it was lying on the chest and fiddled with the channel dial. It shifted to a camera overlooking the first hallway after the room Flowey had been in.

 _Click._ A dark blue hallway, the stone patterns indicating it was in the Ruins.

 _Click._ Another hallway. Two red, pulsing notification bars across the top read, respectively, "DEPLOY AALOS" and "CLOSE SECONDARY DOOR."

 _Click._ This time it was focused on the front of Toriel and Asriel's house. Asriel was sitting outside, back against the tree, humming quietly. Another notification bar read "CLOSE PRIMARY DOOR."

Sans threw the bottle into the sink and turned around, and Frisk quickly turned off the television, crouching down to open one of the drawers. _I feel like these cameras are something he wouldn't want me to see._

The upper drawer contained several books. Some of the titles were in different languages, but those that Frisk could read had titles such as "The Guns of the South," "Worldwar: Tilting the Balance," and "Drive to the East."

"Now those, _those_ are the classics." Sans said from behind Frisk. "Each of those is easily half a century old. Don't think I'll let you read them, though... They're not exactly appropriate for kids."

Conceding, Frisk closed the drawer and opened the bottom one. Inside was a stack of photos. The top one was a picture of Sans and Aster sitting on the couch in this same room, grinning happily.

*The caption reads: New Home!

*As you examine the photograph, you realize that part of the right side has been torn off.

 _And both of us know who was probably there before it went,_ Frisk thought, lifting the photograph to see what was underneath.

Sans's hand suddenly leaped forward and slammed the drawer shut, and Frisk barely managed to get his fingers out before they were trapped within. "Don't." said the skeleton gruffly. "Please." Abruptly he turned and stalked back to the kitchen, leaving the human to his own devices.

 _Weird. But I'm not going to press it._ Frisk cast a glance back at Sans, who was holding a black cell-phone like box in his hands, before walking up the stairs.

Cautiously cracking open the door to the room where Papyrus's had been in the original timeline, Frisk was refreshed by the sight that it had barely changed between the timelines. The car bed was still there, the action figures, the outdated computer... all of it.

But something felt off. It was almost like it was a museum, with the quiet, diluted feeling, and a thin layer of dust covered everything.

Frisk walked over to the computer and reached out for the keyboard... and stopped.

*It's a cardboard cutout.

*Are you kidding me?

Frisk reached out and shifted the cutout aside, revealing a blue key behind it. Stealing a quick glance around, he quickly pocketed the key and moved to the bookshelf.

*These titles don't look familiar at all, and you can't read half of them because of age...

*...or the incomprehensible text they're in.

A chill ran up Frisk's spine, and he had the feeling he was being watched. Suddenly, he didn't feel all that safe, and he left, quickly closing the door behind him.

Frisk opened the next door down the hallway. It was a very small room, almost a closet. Golden panels had been affixed all along the walls, floor and the back of the door, and curiously Frisk stepped inside.

 _Try closing the door,_ Chara advised. _If anything's going to happen, it'll be-_

And then she was cut short by a bony hand coming down on Frisk's shoulder. "What are you doing in there?" growled Sans. "There are some things which you just shouldn't snoop around in, and this is one of them."

"S-sorry..." Frisk stuttered, suddenly very afraid of the skeleton.

Instantly Sans was back to his normal joking self. "Eh, it's not a big problem, really. Just stay out in the future, alright?"

Frisk nodded, not trusting himself to be able to speak.

"Right," Sans continued, "I'mma step out for a moment and grab something to eat from Napstablook's. You want anything?"

"Uh... Yeah, sure." Frisk said at last. "Can you get me a burger?"

"No problem." grinned the skeleton, turning to leave. "Don't get into trouble while I'm out, and don't try to get into Aster's room unless you want him to try to stab a bone up your rear again."

Frisk waited until he heard the front door close before he walked to the final set of rooms. The first door was unmarked and a simple monochrome gray. The second, on the other hand, clearly went to Aster's room, as evidenced by the cardboard sign hung on it that said "ASTER'S ROOM. TRESPASSERS WILL HAVE A BONE SHOVED UP THEIR ARSE (NOT THAT ONE YOU DIRTY-MINDED FREAK)"

 _Well, Aster is certainly... eccentric to say the least,_ Chara noted.

 _You don't say._ Frisk turned to the other door, which presumably led to Sans's room, and fiddled with the door handle. It refused to budge.

 _Wait... Try that blue key you picked up in Papyrus's room._ instructed Chara.

Frisk fumbled the key out of his pocket. Suddenly, his hands were shaking: what would he find in this room?

 _Nothing to be gained by stalling. I'll have to be quick, though, before Sans gets back._

Frisk pushed the key into the lock under the handle and turned it. The door creaked open, and he stepped slowly into the mysterious skeleton's room.

 **A/N: In other news, from here on I'll be taking requests for alternate endings/paths that Frisk could have taken. (Don't bother asking for genocide, though. I'll cover that after finishing up neutral and pacifist.)**


End file.
